Mmmm, good evening!
Wednesdays are an awkward time of the week, in my opinion. It’s like the glass half full/half empty argument. Depending on your perspective, you could be “halfway through!” or “halfway through…” , catch my drift?
This evening, looking back on the day, I happen to be neither. This weekend, most of my fellow college-age peeps come home, and I can finally feel normal about all the loafing I’ve been doing. But as John Lennon once said, “Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.” Right on.
After CoreYoga this morning (which kicked my sore little booty), I decided to capitalize my need for post-workout protein with a little experiment:
My friend Wendy recently attended a nutrition conference in Boston and came back with all kinds of swag. Sharing is caring 🙂
I stirred this vanilla hemp protein packet into my pot of 1/4 cup oat bran and 1/2 cup mango.
- I have no idea how to work that grill on the deck.
Since the powder gave such a dotty appearance and dark shade to the oat bran, I thought it would be super flavorful (and not necessarily in a good way). But I couldn’t taste it! The bowl didn’t taste bad at all, I just couldn’t sense any flavor. How come, hemp?
I still have another packet to try, so we’ll see if that’s any difference.
I was out for most of the afternoon at an endogastroenterologist appointment. Usually, I would say that things that take a long time to pronounce are worth discussing, but this one is not. Not yet, at least. Shall we move on?
I had another glorious session of Rugby Weights at the gym; this track, referred to as Weights 2, focuses on more reps, less weight. One of the moves for this track is “Dumbells x 60 : 6 sets of 10” so you can bet that after 3 circuits of those plus other exercises, my arms were on fire feeling sweet. I love how I could see the muscles I hadn’t glimpsed since the spring awakening. Hello, upper back beauties!
After a quick trip to Walmart (which included a mad dash through the cold from the far end of the parking lot, in running shorts), I came home just wanting some veggies.
Celery canoes with goat cheese, drizzled with olive oil. Greek much?
I came home to a house smelling of banana. My sister made muffins! As well as a mess for me to clean up. Life is all about compromise.
She even left the oven light on.
1 of the 3 banana peels strewn about the kitchen.
On to bigger and better things. Namely, dinner!
I really wanted to make Kath’s Nutty Soba Noodles, but since I didn’t have a lot of ingredients, I had to modify it a bit. Ok, a lot. Hence they became Erica’s Nutty Rice Pilaf with Vegetable Scraps. Still incredibly delicious!
The ingredients I had to work with: edamame (I subbed it later for peas), leftover kale stems, onion, tofu, and rice pilaf.
What makes this meal is Kath’s ingenious sunflower sauce. This is my new favorite way to use sunflower seed butter!
2 TBSP sunflower seed butter (can use other nut butter), 1.5 TBSP soy sauce, 1.5 TBSP warm water, 1 TSP honey, 1 clove garlic, .5 TSP molasses
Made the rice pilaf (this took about 20 minutes):
Chopped the kale stems and onion, steamed the peas:
Chopped up 1/3 a block of tofu:
- Poor tofu. You just don’t look good naked.
- Let me put you next to a knife so you’ll look cooler.
Added the veggies and tofu to a big pot with some olive oil, stirred with soy sauce:
Once those were seared nicely (I like a little bit of crisp), I added in the rice pilaf:
Don’t forget to shake up the sauce! I warmed it up a bit in the microwave to make it more drippy.
Add the standard Erica household salad (mixed greens with goat cheese), drizzle the sauce on top of the mix, and your glass will surely appear half-full.
I’m snuggling up to watch some 3o Rock and pretend that I’ll be as witty as Tina Fey one day.
Have a fantastic Wednesday evening!
Question: What’s one awkward thing that happened to you today?
Spinach, pear, walnut, &
Pruuuunes!
Cafe au lait with soymilk
Oatmeal with protein powder, maca, & prunes (yeah…our fruit supply is officially depleted)
Sushi with avocado, cucumber, red pepper, scallion + pineapple
Tea x2
Mixed greens & carrots with artichoke hearts & an egg, drizzled in balsamic vinegar
Banana, side of Arabic
Whole wheat molasses bread with peanut butter, orange
Mixed greens & carrots with nutritional yeast & socca 
(They’ve been camera-shy lately. Boo!)
That’s all for now, folks. 
Gratitouille 
